There are 11 fires on UK construction sites every single day, with hot works responsible for 15% of blazes on commercial and industrial premises. So there’s an increasing demand for contractors to use flame-free alternatives for fixing bituminous membranes to flat roofs.

This infographic shows the 17 areas on a flat roof installation where flame free alternatives should be considered.

The NFRC’s great Safe2Torch campaign is getting strong support across the UK’s flat roofing industry. There’s now a growing awareness that the torch-on method isn’t always appropriate for fixing bituminous roofs.

Jonathan Brown, Fixfast’s living roofs expert, highlights the need for engineering to protect the long-term performance of living roofs.

It’s great to see the UK living roof market really taking root. With the sector growing nearly twenty percent last year, it’s clear property owners now recognise the significant advantages living roofs offer in terms of improved ecology and design. This growth means new jobs and a more progressive direction for the roofing trade. But I want to highlight an important and as-yet unreported issue that requires attention and mitigation.

In this blog post we explain the common grades of stainless steel used in self-drilling fastener manufacturing, the difference between each grade, and in which applications the correct grade should be used.

Wind load calculations for flat roofs are essential as due diligence for contractors or designers. Rather than seeing them just as a necessary piece of paper though, a wise contractor will take the opportunity to check what the project really requires.

Following our recent blog 'Should you use an impact driver to install self drilling fasteners?', we've been thinking about the importance of making self drilling fasteners as easy to install as possible.

When customers visit us at our Head office in Sevenoaks, Kent, they are often surprised at the extent of the technical laboratory. As you can see in the above photo, this room hosts a raft of equipment which is.....

Traditionally, flat roofs were fixed using the metal fastener and plate combination. However, this transmits heat from the inside of the building to the outside atmosphere through the fastener, which seriously reduces the thermal efficiency of the building.

New standards and changes to sentencing guidelines have been put in place for working at height, and these have put building managers under pressure to upgrade their fixed access and protection systems.

Fixfast exhibited at UK Construction Week 2016 held at Birmingham’s NEC in October; occupying space within the NFRC pavilion which was the ideal position to enhance our reputation as leaders in our industry. Attracting over 30,000 trade visitors and more than 650 exhibitors, Construction Week is the UK’s largest construction trade event and a fantastic way to gain recognition.

British standards can be complex. However, it is essential to understand the relevant ones when specifying building components. This article aims to help you understand the fundamentals of BS EN 9223:2012 & how it can apply to specifying the correct grade of fasteners for the building envelope.